Name

Although she writes under the pen name "J. K. Rowling" (pronounced rolling),[15] her name, before her remarriage, was simply "Joanne Rowling". Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers asked that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K (for "Kathleen") as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother.[16] She calls herself "Jo".[17] Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business.[18][19] During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling[20] and her entry in Who's Who (UK) lists her name as Joanne Kathleen Rowling.[1]

Biography

Birth and family

Rowling's parents met on a train from King's Cross Station. After Rowling used King's Cross as a gateway into the Wizarding World, it has since become a popular tourist spot.

Rowling has said that her teenage years were unhappy.[21] Her home life was complicated by her mother's illness and a strained relationship with her father, with whom she is not on speaking terms.[21] Rowling later said that she based the character of Hermione Granger on herself when she was eleven.[37] Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English".[21] Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth, owned a turquoise Ford Anglia which she says inspired a flying version that appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.[38] At this time, she listened to the Smiths and the Clash.[39] Rowling took A-levels in English, French and German, achieving two As and a B[27] and was Head Girl.[21]

In 1982, Rowling took the entrance exams for Oxford University but was not accepted[21] and read for a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter.[40] Martin Sorrell, a French professor at Exeter, remembers "a quietly competent student, with a denim jacket and dark hair, who, in academic terms, gave the appearance of doing what was necessary".[21] Rowling recalls doing little work, preferring to listen to the Smiths and read Dickens and Tolkien.[21] After a year of study in Paris, Rowling graduated from Exeter in 1986[21] and moved to London to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International.[41] In 1988, Rowling wrote a short essay about her time studying Classics entitled "What was the Name of that Nymph Again? or Greek and Roman Studies Recalled"; it was published by the University of Exeter's journal Pegasus.[42]

Inspiration and mother's death

After working at Amnesty International in London, Rowling and her then boyfriend decided to move to Manchester[26] where she worked at the Chamber of Commerce.[27] In 1990, while she was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into her mind.[26][43][43]

When she had reached her Clapham Junction flat, she began to write immediately.[26][44] In December, Rowling's mother Anne died after ten years suffering from multiple sclerosis.[26] Rowling was writing Harry Potter at the time and had never told her mother about it.[19] Her death heavily affected Rowling's writing[19] and she introduced much more detail about Harry's loss in the first book, because she knew how it felt.[45]

Marriage, divorce, and single parenthood

Rowling moved to Porto to teach. In 1993, she returned to the UK accompanied by her daughter and three completed chapters of Harry Potter after her marriage had deteriorated.

An advert in The Guardian[27] led Rowling to move to Porto in Portugal to teach English as a foreign language.[8][36] She taught at night, and began writing in the day while listening to Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto.[21] After eighteen months in Porto, she met Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes in a bar, and found they shared an interest in Jane Austen.[27] They married on 16 October 1992 and their child, Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes (named after Jessica Mitford), was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal.[27] Rowling had previously suffered a miscarriage.[27] The couple separated on 17 November 1993.[27][46] Biographers have suggested that Rowling suffered domestic abuse during her marriage, although the full extent is unknown.[27][47] In December 1993, Rowling and her then-infant daughter moved to be near Rowling's sister in Edinburgh, Scotland,[26] with three chapters of what would become Harry Potter in her suitcase.[21]

Seven years after graduating from university, Rowling saw herself as a failure.[48] Her marriage had failed, and she was jobless with a dependent child, but she described her failure as liberating and allowing her to focus on writing.[48] During this period Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression and contemplated suicide.[49] Her illness inspired the characters known as Dementors, soul-sucking creatures introduced in the third book.[50] Rowling signed up for welfare benefits, describing her economic status as being "poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless."[21][48]

Rowling was left in despair after her estranged husband arrived in Scotland, seeking both her and her daughter.[27] She obtained an order of restraint and Arantes returned to Portugal, with Rowling filing for divorce in August 1994.[27] She began a teacher training course in August 1995 at the Moray House School of Education, at Edinburgh University,[51] after completing her first novel while living on state benefits.[52] She wrote in many cafés, especially Nicolson's Café (owned by her brother-in-law, Roger Moore),[53][54] and the Elephant House;[55] wherever she could get Jessica to fall asleep.[26][56] In a 2001 BBC interview, Rowling denied the rumour that she wrote in local cafés to escape from her unheated flat, pointing out that it had heating. One of the reasons she wrote in cafés was that taking her baby out for a walk was the best way to make her fall asleep.[56]

Harry Potter

"The Elephant House" – one of the cafés in Edinburgh in which Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel.[57]

In 1995, Rowling finished her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on an old manual typewriter.[58] Upon the enthusiastic response of Bryony Evens, a reader who had been asked to review the book's first three chapters, the Fulham-based Christopher Little Literary Agents agreed to represent Rowling in her quest for a publisher. The book was submitted to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected the manuscript.[27] A year later she was finally given the green light (and a £1500 advance) by editor Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury, a publishing house in London.[27][59] The decision to publish Rowling's book owes much to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next.[60] Although Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book, Cunningham says that he advised Rowling to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children's books.[61] Soon after, in 1997, Rowling received an £8000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council to enable her to continue writing.[62]

In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print run of 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued between £16,000 and £25,000.[63] Five months later, the book won its first award, a Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. In February, the novel won the British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year, and later, the Children's Book Award. In early 1998, an auction was held in the United States for the rights to publish the novel, and was won by Scholastic Inc., for US$105,000. Rowling said that she "nearly died" when she heard the news.[64] In October 1998, Scholastic published Philosopher's Stone in the US under the title of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a change Rowling says she now regrets and would have fought if she had been in a better position at the time.[65] Rowling moved from her flat with the money from the Scholastic sale, into 19 Hazelbank Terrace in Edinburgh.[53]

The fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was released simultaneously in the UK and the US on 8 July 2000 and broke sales records in both countries. 372,775 copies of the book were sold in its first day in the UK, almost equalling the number Prisoner of Azkaban sold during its first year.[69] In the US, the book sold three million copies in its first 48 hours, smashing all records.[69] Rowling said that she had had a crisis while writing the novel and had to rewrite one chapter many times to fix a problem with the plot.[70] Rowling was named Author of the Year in the 2000 British Book Awards.[71]

A wait of three years occurred between the release of Goblet of Fire and the fifth Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This gap led to press speculation that Rowling had developed writer's block, speculations she denied.[72] Rowling later said that writing the book was a chore, that it could have been shorter, and that she ran out of time and energy as she tried to finish it.[73]

The title of the seventh and final Harry Potter book was announced on 21 December 2006 as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.[75] In February 2007 it was reported that Rowling wrote on a bust in her hotel room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh that she had finished the seventh book in that room on 11 January 2007.[76]Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on 21 July 2007 (0:01 BST)[77] and broke its predecessor's record as the fastest-selling book of all time.[78] It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in the United Kingdom and United States.[78] The book's last chapter was one of the earliest things she wrote in the entire series.[79]

Harry Potter is now a global brand worth an estimated US$15 billion,[80] and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.[78][81] The series, totalling 4,195 pages,[82] has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages.[83]

The Harry Potter books have also gained recognition for sparking an interest in reading among the young at a time when children were thought to be abandoning books for computers and television,[84] although it is reported that despite the huge uptake of the books, adolescent reading has continued to decline.[85]

Warner Bros. took considerable notice of Rowling's desires and thoughts when drafting her contract. One of her principal stipulations was the films be shot in Britain with an all-British cast,[92] which has been generally adhered to. Rowling also demanded that Coca-Cola, the victor in the race to tie in their products to the film series, donate US$18 million to the American charity Reading is Fundamental, as well as several community charity programs.[93]

The first four, sixth and seventh films were scripted by Steve Kloves; Rowling assisted him in the writing process, ensuring that his scripts did not contradict future books in the series.[94] She told Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) certain secrets about their characters before they were revealed in the books.[95]Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) asked her if Harry died at any point in the series; Rowling answered him by saying, "You have a death scene", thereby not explicitly answering the question.[96] Director Steven Spielberg was approached to direct the first film, but dropped out. The press has repeatedly claimed that Rowling played a role in his departure, but Rowling stated that she had no say in who directed the films and would not have vetoed Spielberg.[97] Rowling's first choice for the director had been Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, but Warner Bros. wanted a family-friendly film and chose Columbus.[98]

Rowling had gained some creative control on the films, reviewing all the scripts[99] as well as acting as a producer on the final two-part instalment, Deathly Hallows.[100]

In September 2013, Warner Bros. announced an "expanded creative partnership" with Rowling, based on a planned series of films about Newt Scamander, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The first film will be scripted by Rowling, and be set roughly 70 years before the events of the main series.[102] In 2014, it was announced that the series would consist of three films.[103]

Financial success

In 2004, Forbes named Rowling as the first person to become a U.S.-dollar billionaire by writing books,[104] the second-richest female entertainer and the 1,062nd richest person in the world.[105] Rowling disputed the calculations and said she had plenty of money, but was not a billionaire.[106] The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List named Rowling the 144th richest person in Britain.[11] In 2012, Forbes removed Rowling from their rich list, claiming that her US$160 million in charitable donations and the high tax rate in the UK meant she was no longer a billionaire.[107] In February 2013 she was assessed as the 13th most powerful woman in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.[108]

Remarriage and family

On 26 December 2001, Rowling married Neil Michael Murray (born 30 June 1971), an anaesthetist, in a private ceremony at her home, Killiechassie House, near Aberfeldy.[112] Their son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born on 24 March 2003.[113] Shortly after Rowling began writing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she ceased working on the novel to care for David in his early infancy.[114]

Rowling is a friend of Sarah Brown, wife of former prime minister Gordon Brown, whom she met when they collaborated on a charitable project. When Sarah Brown's son Fraser was born in 2003, Rowling was one of the first to visit her in hospital.[115] Rowling's youngest child, daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, to whom she dedicated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was born on 23 January 2005.[116]

In October 2012, a New Yorker magazine article stated that the Rowling family lived in a seventeenth-century Edinburgh house, concealed at the front by tall conifer hedges. Prior to October 2012, Rowling lived near the author Ian Rankin, who later said she was quiet and introspective, and that she seemed in her element with children.[21][117] As of June 2014[update], the family reside in Scotland.[118]

The Casual Vacancy

In July 2011, Rowling parted company with her agent, Christopher Little, moving to a new agency founded by one of his staff, Neil Blair.[21][119] On 23 February 2012, Rowling's new agency, the Blair Partnership, announced on its website that Rowling was set to publish a new book targeted at adults. In a press release, Rowling said that her new book would be quite different from Harry Potter. In April 2012, Little, Brown and Company announced that the book was entitled The Casual Vacancy and would be released on 27 September 2012.[120] Rowling gave several interviews and made appearances to promote The Casual Vacancy, including at the London Southbank Centre,[121] the Cheltenham Literature Festival,[122]Charlie Rose[123] and the Lennoxlove Book Festival.[124] In its first three weeks of release, The Casual Vacancy sold over 1 million copies worldwide.[125]

On 3 December 2012, it was announced that The Casual Vacancy was to become a BBC television drama series. Rowling's agent, Neil Blair acted as producer, through his independent production company and with Rick Senat serving as executive producer. Rowling collaborated on the adaptation. The series aired in three parts from 15 of February to 1 March, 2015.[126][127]

Cormoran Strike

Over the years, Rowling often spoke of writing a crime novel. In 2007, during the Edinburgh Book Festival, author Ian Rankin claimed that his wife spotted Rowling "scribbling away" at a detective novel in a café.[128] Rankin later retracted the story, claiming it was a joke,[129] but the rumour persisted, with a report in 2012 in The Guardian speculating that Rowling's next book would be a crime novel.[130] In an interview with Stephen Fry in 2005, Rowling claimed that she would much prefer to write any subsequent books under a pseudonym, but she conceded to Jeremy Paxman in 2003 that if she did, the press would probably "find out in seconds".[131]

In April 2013, Little Brown published The Cuckoo's Calling, the purported début novel of author Robert Galbraith, who the publisher described as "a former plainclothes Royal Military Police investigator who had left in 2003 to work in the civilian security industry".[132] The novel, a detective story in which private investigator Cormoran Strike unravels the supposed suicide of a supermodel, sold 1500 copies in hardback (although the matter was not resolved as of 21 July 2013[update], later reports stated that this number is the number of copies that were printed for the first run, while the sales total was closer to 500),[133] and received acclaim from other crime writers[132] and critics[134]—a Publishers Weekly review called the book a "stellar debut",[135] while the Library Journal‍ '​s mystery section pronounced the novel "the debut of the month".[136]

India Knight, a novelist and columnist for the Sunday Times, tweeted on 9 July 2013 that she had been reading The Cuckoo's Calling and thought it was good for a début novel. In response, a tweeter called Jude Callegari said that the author was "Rowling". Knight queried this but got no further reply.[137] Knight notified Richard Brooks, arts editor of the Sunday Times, who began his own investigation.[137][138] After discovering that Rowling and Galbraith had the same agent and editor, he sent the books for linguistic analysis which found similarities, and subsequently contacted Rowling's agent who confirmed it was Rowling's pseudonym.[138] Within days of Rowling being revealed as the author, sales of the book rose by 4000 percent,[137] and Little Brown printed another 140,000 copies to meet the increase in demand.[139] As of 18 June 2013[update], a signed copy of the first edition sold for US$4,453 (£2,950), while an unsold signed first-edition copy was being offered for $6,188 (£3,950).[133]

Rowling said that she had enjoyed working under a pseudonym.[140] On her Robert Galbraith website, Rowling explained that she took the name from one of her personal heroes, Robert Kennedy, and a childhood fantasy name she had invented for herself, Ella Galbraith.[141]

Soon after the revelation, Brooks pondered whether Jude Callegari could have been Rowling as part of wider speculation that the entire affair had been a publicity stunt. Some also noted that many of the writers who had initially praised the book, such as Alex Bray or Val McDermid, were within Rowling's circle of acquaintances; both vociferously denied any foreknowledge of Rowling's authorship.[137] Judith "Jude" Callegari was the best friend of the wife of Chris Gossage, a partner within Russells Solicitors, Rowling's legal representatives.[142][143] Rowling released a statement saying she was disappointed and angry;[142] Russells apologised for the leak, confirming it was not part of a marketing stunt and that "the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he [Gossage] trusted implicitly".[139] Russells made a donation to the Soldiers' Charity on Rowling's behalf and reimbursed her for her legal fees.[144] On 26 November 2013 the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) issued Gossage a written rebuke and £1000 fine for breaching privacy rules.[145]

On 17 February 2014, Rowling announced that the second Cormoran Strike novel, named The Silkworm, would be released in June 2014. It sees Strike investigating the disappearance of a writer hated by many of his old friends for insulting them in his new novel.[146]

In 2015, Rowling stated on Galbraith's website that the third Cormoran Strike novel would include "an insane amount of planning, the most I have done for any book I have written so far. I have colour-coded spreadsheets so I can keep a track of where I am going."[147] On 24 April 2015, Rowling announced that work on the third book was completed. Titled Career of Evil, the novel will be released on 20 October 2015 in the United States, and on 22 October 2015 in the United Kingdom.[148]

Future writing

In 2006, Rowling announced that she had finished writing a few short stories and another children's book (a "political fairy story") about a monster, aimed at a younger audience than Harry Potter readers.[149] In July 2007, Rowling said that she wanted to dedicate more time to her family, but was currently writing two works, one for children and the other for adults.[150] She did not give any details about the two projects but did state that she was excited because the two book situation reminded her of writing the Philosopher's Stone, explaining how she was then writing two books until Harry took over.[151]

In November 2007, Rowling said that she was working on another book, a "half-finished book for children that I think will probably be the next thing I publish".[152]

In March 2008, Rowling said in an interview that she had returned to writing in Edinburgh cafés, intent on composing a new novel for children.[153] Rowling also confirmed that her political fairy tale for children was nearing completion.[154]

In September 2012, Rowling stated that she was currently working on two books for readership younger than Harry Potter.[21] She maintained in an interview with The Guardian that one of those two books was the "political fairy tale" she spoke of previously, although she expected to release the other book as her next project.[155] At the Cheltenham Literature Festival on 6 October 2012, she said that she had a couple of things on her laptop aimed at a slightly younger age group than Harry Potter which were "nearly done".[156]

Future of Harry Potter

Rowling has said it is unlikely she will write any more books in the Harry Potter series.[157] In October 2007 she stated that her future work was unlikely to be in the fantasy genre.[158] On 1 October 2010, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rowling stated a new book on the saga might happen.[159]

In 2007, Rowling stated that she planned to write an encyclopaedia of Harry Potter‍ '​s wizarding world consisting of various unpublished material and notes.[160] Any profits from such a book would be given to charity.[161] During a news conference at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre in 2007, Rowling, when asked how the encyclopaedia was coming along, said, "It's not coming along, and I haven't started writing it. I never said it was the next thing I'd do."[162] At the end of 2007, Rowling said that the encyclopaedia could take up to ten years to complete.[163]

In June 2011, Rowling announced that future Harry Potter projects, and all electronic downloads, would be concentrated in a new website, called Pottermore.[164] The site includes 18,000 words of information on characters, places and objects in the Harry Potter universe.[165]

Philanthropy

In 2000, Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses its annual budget of £5.1 million to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organisations that aid children, one parent families, and multiple sclerosis research.[150][166]

Anti-poverty and children's welfare

Rowling, once a single parent, is now president of the charity Gingerbread (originally One Parent Families), having become their first Ambassador in 2000.[167][168] Rowling collaborated with Sarah Brown to write a book of children's stories to aid One Parent Families.[169]

In 2001, the UK anti-poverty fundraiser Comic Relief asked three best-selling British authors – cookery writer and TV presenter Delia Smith, Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding, and Rowling – to submit booklets related to their most famous works for publication.[170] Rowling's two booklets, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, are ostensibly facsimiles of books found in the Hogwarts library. Since going on sale in March 2001, the books have raised £15.7 million for the fund. The £10.8 million they have raised outside the UK have been channelled into a newly created International Fund for Children and Young People in Crisis.[171] In 2002 Rowling contributed a foreword to Magic, an anthology of fiction published by Bloomsbury Publishing, helping to raise money for the National Council for One Parent Families.[172]

In 2005, Rowling and MEPEmma Nicholson founded the Children's High Level Group (now Lumos).[173] In January 2006, Rowling went to Bucharest to highlight the use of caged beds in mental institutions for children.[174] To further support the CHLG, Rowling auctioned one of seven handwritten and illustrated copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a series of fairy tales referred to in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The book was purchased for £1.95 million by on-line bookseller Amazon.com on 13 December 2007, becoming the most expensive modern book ever sold at auction.[175][175][176] Rowling gave away the remaining six copies to those who have a close connection with the Harry Potter books.[175] In 2008, Rowling agreed to publish the book with the proceeds going to Lumos.[117] On 1 June 2010 (International Children's Day), Lumos launched an annual initiative – Light a Birthday Candle for Lumos.[177] In November 2013, Rowling handed over all earnings from the sale of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, totalling nearly £19 million.[178]

Multiple sclerosis

Rowling has contributed money and support for research and treatment of multiple sclerosis, from which her mother suffered before her death in 1990. In 2006, Rowling contributed a substantial sum toward the creation of a new Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University, later named the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic.[180] In 2010 she donated a further £10 million to the centre.[181] For reasons unknown, Scotland, Rowling's country of adoption, has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the world. In 2003, Rowling took part in a campaign to establish a national standard of care for MS sufferers.[182] In April 2009, she announced that she was withdrawing her support for Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland, citing her inability to resolve an ongoing feud between the organisation's northern and southern branches that had sapped morale and led to several resignations.[182]

On 1 and 2 August 2006, she read alongside Stephen King and John Irving at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Profits from the event were donated to the Haven Foundation, a charity that aids artists and performers left uninsurable and unable to work, and the medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières.[184] In May 2007, Rowling pledged a donation reported as over £250,000 to a reward fund started by the tabloid News of the World for the safe return of a young British girl, Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal.[185] Rowling, along with Nelson Mandela, Al Gore, and Alan Greenspan, wrote an introduction to a collection of Gordon Brown's speeches, the proceeds of which were donated to the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory.[186] After her exposure as the true author of The Cuckoo's Calling led a massive increase in sales, Rowling announced she would donate all her royalties to the Army Benevolent Fund, claiming she had always intended to, but never expected the book to be a bestseller.[187]

Rowling is a supporter of The Shannon Trust, which runs the Toe by Toe Reading Plan and the Shannon Reading Plan in prisons across Britain, helping and giving tutoring to prisoners who cannot read.[188]

In April 2010, Rowling published an article in The Times, in which she criticised Cameron's plan to encourage married couples to stay together by offering them a £150 annual tax credit: "Nobody who has ever experienced the reality of poverty could say 'it's not the money, it's the message'. When your flat has been broken into, and you cannot afford a locksmith, it is the money. When you are two pence short of a tin of baked beans, and your child is hungry, it is the money. When you find yourself contemplating shoplifting to get nappies, it is the money."[195]

As a resident of Scotland, Rowling was eligible to vote in the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, and campaigned for the "No" vote.[155] She donated £1 million to the Better Together anti-independence campaign (run by her former neighbour Alistair Darling),[118] the largest donation it had received at the time. In a blog post, Rowling explained that an open letter from Scottish medical professionals raised problems with First Minister Alex Salmond's plans for a common research funding.[118] Rowling compared some Scottish Nationalists with the Death Eaters, characters from Harry Potter who are scornful of those without pure blood.[196]

Religion

Over the years, some religious people, particularly Christians, have decried Rowling's books for supposedly promoting witchcraft. Rowling identifies as a Christian,[197] and attended a Church of Scotland congregation while writing Harry Potter. Her eldest daughter, Jessica, was baptised there.[197][198] She once said, "I believe in God, not magic."[199] Early on she felt that if readers knew of her Christian beliefs they would be able to predict her plot line.[200]

In 2007, Rowling described having been brought up in the Church of England. She said she was the only one in her family who regularly went to church. As a student she became annoyed at the "smugness of religious people" and worshipped less often. Later, she started to attend again at a church in Edinburgh.[201]

The press

Rowling has had a difficult relationship with the press. She admits to being "thin-skinned" and dislikes the fickle nature of reporting. Rowling disputes her reputation as a recluse who hates to be interviewed.[207]

By 2011, Rowling had taken more than 50 actions against the press.[208] In 2001, the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint by Rowling over a series of unauthorised photographs of her with her daughter on the beach in Mauritius published in OK! Magazine.[209] In 2007, Rowling's young son, David, assisted by Rowling and her husband, lost a court fight to ban publication of a photograph of him. The photo, taken by a photographer using a long-range lens, was subsequently published in a Sunday Express article featuring Rowling's family life and motherhood.[18] The judgement was overturned in David's favour in May 2008.[210]

Rowling particularly dislikes the British tabloid the Daily Mail, which has conducted interviews with her estranged ex-husband. As one journalist noted, "Harry's Uncle Vernon is a grotesque philistine of violent tendencies and remarkably little brain. It is not difficult to guess which newspaper Rowling gives him to read [in Goblet of Fire]."[211] As of January 2014[update], she was seeking damages from the Mail for libel over an article about her time as a single mother.[212] Some have speculated that Rowling's fraught relationship with the press was the inspiration behind the character Rita Skeeter, a gossipy celebrity journalist who first appears in Goblet of Fire, but Rowling noted in 2000 that the character predates her rise to fame.[213]

In September 2011, Rowling was named a "core participant" in the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press, as one of dozens of celebrities who may have been the victim of phone hacking.[214] On 24 November 2011, Rowling gave evidence before the inquiry; although she was not suspected to have been the victim of phone hacking,[215] her testimony included accounts of photographers camping on her doorstep, her fiancé being duped into giving his home address to a journalist masquerading as a tax official,[215] her chasing a journalist a week after giving birth,[208] a journalist leaving a note inside her then-five-year-old daughter's schoolbag, and an attempt by the Sun to "blackmail" her into a photo opportunity in exchange for the return of a stolen manuscript.[216] Rowling claimed she had to leave her former home in Merchiston because of press intrusion.[216] In November 2012, Rowling wrote an article for The Guardian in reaction to David Cameron's decision not to implement the full recommendations of the Leveson inquiry, saying she felt "duped and angry".[217]

In 2014, Rowling reaffirmed her support for "Hacked Off" and its campaign towards press self-regulation by co-signing with other British celebrities a declaration to "[safeguard] the press from political interference while also giving vital protection to the vulnerable."[218]

Legal disputes

Rowling, her publishers, and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the Harry Potter films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyright. The worldwide popularity of the Harry Potter series has led to the appearance of a number of locally produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, sparking efforts to ban or contain them.[219]

Another area of legal dispute involves a series of injunctions obtained by Rowling and her publishers to prohibit anyone from reading her books before their official release date.[220] The injunction drew fire from civil liberties and free speech campaigners and sparked debates over the "right to read".[221][222]

Awards and honours

Rowling, after receiving an honorary degree from the University of Aberdeen.

^ abLoer, Stephanie (18 October 1999). "All about Harry Potter from quidditch to the future of the Sorting Hat". The Boston Globe.Reprint at Accio Quote! (accio-quote.org). No date. Retrieved 10 October 2007.

^Kirk, Connie Ann (2003). J.K. Rowling: A Biography. United States: Greenwood Press. p. 57. ISBN0-313-32205-8. Soon, by many eyewitness accounts and even some versions of Jorge's own story, domestic violence became a painful reality in Jo's life.